New City College (NCC) is a large college of further education with campuses in East London and

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. The college was formed in 2016 with the amalgamation of separate colleges, beginning with the merger between Tower Hamlets College and Hackney Community College, followed by the gradual additions of Redbridge College, Epping Forest College, and both

Havering College of Further and Higher Education Havering College of Further and Higher Education is a college founded in 1947 in the London Borough of Havering that provides part-time and full-time education to students aged 14+. History Following the introduction of the Education Act 1944 ...

and Havering Sixth Form College. It is the second largest provider of post-16 education in the country since 2019.

Courses

Various vocational and academic programmes are offered by the constituent colleges of New City Colleges such as A levels, BTECs,

Diplomas A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

, ESOL programmes and

Access course The Access to Higher Education (HE) Diploma is a U.K. qualification which prepares students — usually 19+ — for study as an undergraduate at university. The diploma is designed for people who would like to study in higher education but who le ...

s. In addition, certain colleges have currently or in the past provided some

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

courses in conjunction with the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

History and sites

The college has 9 buildings and 5 campuses around London and Essex: Redbridge (Ilford and Chadwell Heath), Tower Hamlets (Poplar and Arbour Square), Hackney, Epping Forest (Debden) and Havering (Ardleigh Green, Rainham and Hornchurch). All of these were inherited from its predecessors.

Tower Hamlets

The largest building of the

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

campus is on Poplar High Street, about 700 m north of

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lon ...

; the others are at

Arbour Square Arbour Square is a late Georgian square in Stepney, in the borough of Tower Hamlets, east London, England. It is located just off the Commercial Road (A13) approximately one mile (1.6 km) east of the City of London. The square is current ...

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

and the TowerSkills on

East India Dock Road East India Dock Road is a major arterial route from Limehouse to Canning Town in London. The road takes its name from the former East India Docks in the Port of London, and partly serves as the high street of Poplar. To the west it becomes Co ...

. The college is housed in the former building of the

School of Marine Engineering and Navigation A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

established by the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

opened in 1906. This later evolved into

Poplar Technical College Poplar may refer to: Plants *'' Populus'', the plant genus which includes most poplars, as well as aspen and cottonwood ** Black poplar (''Populus nigra'') ** Carolina or Canadian poplar, '' Populus × canadensis'' ** Grey poplar (''Populus × ...

, which retained a maritime focus. Tower Hamlets College (THC) was established in 1990. The College faced increasing competition at sixth form provision from local schools in Tower Hamlets and underwent an OFSTED inspection in December 2013 which awarded the College good college status (Ofsted, December 2013) As of 2009/10 the college had 18,986 enrolments, of which 66% were adults age 19 and over. The largest ethnic group in the college is Bangladeshi, predominantly Muslims. The college hosts one of the Great Britain's largest Islamic society of College. Tower Hamlets College was featured in the book of ''

The Islamist ''The Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left'' is a 2007 book about Ed Husain's five years as an Islamist. The book has been described as "as much a memoir of personal struggle and inner growth as it is ...

'' by

Ed Husain Ed Husain (born 25 December 1974) is a British author and academic. He is also a adjunct Professor, professor in the Walsh School of Foreign Service in Georgetown University. As a political advisor he has worked with leaders and governments acr ...

, who was a former president of the Islamic Society at THC and explains the growing

Islamic fundamentalism Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a puritanical, revivalist, and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. Islamic fundamentalists are of the view that Muslim-majority countries should return ...

of Muslim students part of the Islamic Society during 1992.

Hackney

Its campus is in Falkirk Street in

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It li ...

, backing onto Hoxton Street. When the campus opened in 1996, it was Britain's largest capital further education building project. The college was originally named Hackney College when it was formed in 1974 by the amalgamation of Hackney and Stoke Newington College of Further Education with those sites of Poplar Technical College that had been established in Hackney. It was initially run by

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

(ILEA) and, following that, by

Hackney Council Hackney London Borough Council is the local government authority for the London Borough of Hackney, London, England, one of 32 London borough councils. The council is unusual in the United Kingdom local government system in that its executive fu ...

, when it was renamed. For a few years it was known as The Community College Shoreditch, but later reverted to the name Hackney Community College (dating from the process known as "incorporation" in 1993 when it was formed from the merger of Hackney College, Hackney Sixth Form Centre and Hackney Adult Education Institute, as a result of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.) In August 2016, Hackney Community College merged with Tower Hamlets to create a more responsive and financially robust larger organisation, named New City College. It is home to the Tech City Apprenticeship, the London Technical Fashion Academy, the London City Hospitality Centre and its training restaurant, Open Kitchen. HCC's SPACe (Sport and Performing Arts Centre) was funded by

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

as a

centre of excellence A center of excellence (COE or CoE ), also called excellence center, is a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support or training for a focus area. Due to its broad usage and vague legal prec ...

in cricket and basketball. SPACe was home to London United Basketball and is still the base for the Hackney Community College Basketball Academy, as well as academies in other sports. SPACe was used as a training camp for basketball during the

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Previous Hackney institutions

'Hackney College' has also been widely used (by

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

and others) to refer specifically to Brooke House, until September 2002 one of the Community College's sites. This has now become

BSix Sixth Form College BSix Sixth Form College: Brooke House is a sixth form college located in Upper Clapton, London, England. It was established in 2002, giving students in Hackney the opportunity to study at a college close to where they live. Brooke House has prev ...

. The modern version of the term should also be distinguished from previous Hackney Colleges: * One name for the

dissenting academy The dissenting academies were schools, colleges and seminaries (often institutions with aspects of all three) run by English Dissenters, that is, those who did not conform to the Church of England. They formed a significant part of England's edu ...

set up by

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

s in Homerton (in the parish of Hackney) in 1786, also known in various accounts as

Homerton Academy Independent College, later Homerton Academy, was a dissenting academy in Homerton just outside London, England, in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Background In 1695 the Congregational Fund was set up in London to provide for the education of ...

, or Homerton College. In these years it attracted some notable students, including

William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...

. In 1850 it split into two parts. The teacher training component moved to Cambridge, where it is still known as

Homerton College Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the co ...

; the theological functions stayed in London as part of the three-college merger that created

New College London New College London (1850–1980) (sometimes known as New College, St John's Wood, or New College, Hampstead) was founded as a Congregationalist college in 1850. Predecessor institutions New College London came into being in 1850 by the amalgama ...

. * One name for the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

co-founded by

George Collison George Collison (1772–1847) was an English Congregationalist and educator associated with Hackney Academy or Hackney College, which became part of New College London—itself part of the University of London. Early life Collison was born i ...

(b. 1772- d. 1847). It was also known as Hackney Academy or Hackney Theological Seminary, or Hackney Itineracy, but became best known as the Hackney College after 1871, a name which stuck even after its 1887 move to

Finchley Road Finchley Road is a designated arterial road in north-west London, England. The Finchley Road starts in St John's Wood near central London as part of the A41; its southern half is a major dual carriageway with high traffic levels often freque ...

in Hampstead, North London. Its principal at about this time was Peter Taylor Forsyth. Both of these merged in 1900, becoming the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

's first Faculty of Theology. In 1924 this became, by Act of Parliament, a constituent college known as Hackney and New College, the two names by which its disparate buildings throughout

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

were commonly known. In 1934 new premises were planned. In 1936, the name of the college was simplified to New College London, harking back to the Congregationalist merger of 1850.

Redbridge

The Redbridge Campus has two sites in Ilford, one in the town centre and another next to King George Hospital. Redbridge College began life as Redbridge Technical College on 2 June 1970. It offered vocational courses in a range of subjects. It was once a major centre for deaf students or those with learning difficulties. The college merged into New City College in 2017.

Epping Forest

The Epping Forest campus is located in Borders Lane in Debden, a suburb of

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

. Epping Forest College was founded in 1989 as a tertiary college after the re-organisation of post-16 education in south-west Essex. It was created from the Loughton College of Further Education and the sixth forms from seven local secondary schools. Due to financial strains, the college merged with New City College in 2018, a move that was protested by

Epping Forest District Epping Forest is a local government district in Essex, England. Situated in the west of the county, bordering northeastern Greater London, it is named after, and contains a large part of, Epping Forest. The district, though wholly within the c ...

council fearing it would lose community focus.

Havering Colleges

Havering Colleges New City College (NCC) is a large college of further education with campuses in East London and Essex. The college was formed in 2016 with the amalgamation of separate colleges, beginning with the merger between Tower Hamlets College and Hackney C ...

is a constituent college formed from

and Havering Sixth Form College. Collectively the Havering Colleges, they retain their individual identities as part of the New City College group.

Notable alumni

Kate Osamor Ofunne Kate Osamor (; born 15 August 1968) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Edmonton since 2015. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, she was Shadow Secretary of State for International Developm ...

- Labour Party politician (Hackney College) *

Darius Defoe Darius Defoe (born 30 October 1984) is a British basketball player. Defoe is a power forward, who is able to play in the center. Since 2005, Defoe is a member of the Newcastle Eagles. Early years Defoe attended St. David & St. Katharine Scho ...

Newcastle Eagles The Newcastle Eagles are a professional basketball team based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Playing in the top-tier British Basketball League and holding the franchise for Tyne & Wear, they are the most successful team in the League's histor ...

player (Hackney College) * Dire Straits guitarist and singer

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

lectured at the Epping Forest site when it was known as Loughton College

References

External links

official website
{{Schools and colleges in Havering Educational institutions established in 2016 2016 establishments in England Further education colleges in London Further education colleges in Essex Education in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Education in the London Borough of Hackney Education in the London Borough of Redbridge Education in the London Borough of Havering Learning and Skills Beacons Loughton